Kota Kinabalu: The remains of 22-year-old German tourist, Viktoria Paulsen, who died after she fell about 30 metres from the summit of Mount Kinabalu, was flown out of Sabah, Wednesday evening.

Sabah Parks Director Paul Basintal said the Paulsen family had authorised the German Embassy in Kuala Lumpur to arrange for transporting the remains to them.

He said the body was taken out from Queen Elizabeth Hospital 1(QEH) around midday and sent to the Tionghua funeral parlour at Mile 51/2 Tuaran road near Likas.

"The body was transported on a Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight to Kota Kinabalu International Airport which departed at 7pm.

"Actually the family had also appointed a KL-based company to arrange for the funeral arrangements and it appointed an agent here to ensure the smooth transportation of the remains.

"Viktoria's brother, Boris Fock Loong Paulsen gave a Power of Attorney (PA) to the German Embassy through its consul Christiane Gruber to arrange for all necessary matters to transport the body back to them for burial," said Basintal.

He said Paulsen was covered by an insurance policy and that Sabah Parks is in the midst of processing the insurance claim.

Once fully processed, Sabah Parks would liaise with the German Embassy to pass on the insurance claim of Paulsen to her next-of-kin.

It was learnt that a German official was here to arrange for the transportation of Paulsen's remains.

Meanwhile, Ranau Police Chief DSP Abdul Rahman Kassim said an autopsy report showed that Paulsen succumbed to serious injuries to her head and also broken hands and legs.

He said a sample was taken from Paulsen's body and sent to Chemistry Department here for further analysis.

Initial investigations revealed that Paulsen had gone out from the gated trail on the climb to snap a photo of the sunrise when tragedy struck at 6am.

Witnesses claimed that Paulsen had crossed over a safety railing and appeared to have stepped on loose rock before slipping and falling 30-metre into Low's Gully.

Park Rangers rushed to the summit and descended the steep and slippery slope to retrieve her body, which was brought back to Timpohon Gate at the mountain base around 5.05pm.

A team of policemen took over and brought the remains to the district hospital.

A post mortem was carried out on the body when it was sent to the QEH 1 on Tuesday.